Over in LiveJournal Land, James Nicoll has a good idea that I'm going to steal. Over at SF Signal, they asked a bunch of writers what they would change about SF. Ken Macleod (author and occasional blogger) wrote, in part:
It's just rare to see stories written about a future that the writer believes in and the reader can get excited about - let alone one they'd like to live in. What we need is a new intellectual engagement with the real possibilities, coupled with a new confidence in humanity's capacity to deal with them.
James challenges his readership of SF fans to design such a future, but there's no reason actual scientists shouldn't get in on the game. We get a lot of nattering negativity around here-- enough so that it sometimes feels like we're-all-going-to-die-blogs.com. People are constantly talking about how we're going to be wiped out by pandemic disease, drowned by rising sea levels, shot by totalitarian theocrats, or some combination of the three.
Well, I've had about enough of your negative waves, Moriarty. Let's hear some positive ideas about the future, already. What good things do you believe about the future, that we can all get excited about?
Politics
Environment
Comments
# 1 | Greg | August 22, 2008 6:38 PM
Let me start by saying that the "Kelly's Heros" reference brought a smile to my lips. So on to your challenge. The technology which has had me the most excited is the personal nanofactory and the associated nanomedical devices that this should make possible. A good starting place to find out more about this and _many_ other promising technologies is www.nextbigfuture.com
# 2 | David Hunter Tow | August 23, 2008 8:46 AM
In my book- The Future of LIfe- Meta-Evolution, published in 2006- Amazon, I provide evidence for an optimistic and revolutionary outcome for life, evolving into a meta-life form - Omega; as also predicted by some of the greatest philosophers of history- Teillhard de Chardin, Schelling, Whitehouse, Bergson and Samuel Alexander- but all lacking an empirical basis of proof.
Freely available from
http://dhtow01.googlepages.com/futureoflife
# 3 | David Hunter Tow | August 23, 2008 8:47 AM
In my book- The Future of LIfe- Meta-Evolution, published in 2006- Amazon, I provide evidence for an optimistic and revolutionary outcome for life, evolving into a meta-life form - Omega; as also predicted by some of the greatest philosophers of history- Teillhard de Chardin, Schelling, Whitehouse, Bergson and Samuel Alexander- but all lacking an empirical basis of proof.
Freely available from
http://dhtow01.googlepages.com/futureoflife